Tuesday, December 13, 2011

How I got it: I remembered a review of this book and saw it at the library, whereupon the rest worked out pretty well.

Book in a nutshell:

Green, a fifteen-year-old girl, stays behind angry while her family goes to market in the nearby city. But a huge explosion destroys the city and devestates the countryside, killing her family and changing her life forever. She descends into darkness and despair... until reasons for hope begin to appear.

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I think the book is supposed to be set in the future. Even though it feels like a fairy tale, it involves all sorts of modern things. One of the reviewers calls it something like "a post-apocolyptic fairy tale," which seems to be a pretty close description. From the back cover, this slim novella seems to be a total wash of depression. But due to its brevity and its capable writing, I don't mind... and it doesn't stay that way.It is really more of a fairy tale than a serious story for long-term staring-at. It's beautiful and well-done, portraying a shy and lonely girl recovering from tragedy.

Age rec: I'd say 12 and up - content-wise, there's nothing that I can remember, but its dark tone throughout much of the story would probably be off-putting to many younger readers. Other characters are mentioned as drinking alchoholic drinks, and the main character tattoos herself. But as the bottom line, I just don't think young kids would be interested.